Investors retreat from Japan stocks on trade, tax concerns

TOKYO: Investors are pulling money out of Japan's underperforming stock market, worried that constraints on further economic stimulus make the country more vulnerable than others directly in the firing line of the Sino-US trade war.

The heavy portfolio outflows from foreign and domestic investors in the six weeks since US-China trade talks broke down could curtail a rising yen, which has been pushed higher by a flight to safety due to heightening worries over trade, global growth and tensions in the Middle East.

Investors say even China, whose stock markets are Asia's best performing this year, offers better opportunities as there are companies there not directly affected by US tariffs or those that will benefit from government efforts to support the economy.

Companies across Japan, from factory automation equipment makers and robot manufacturers to shippers, are reliant on China, said Norihiro Fujito, Tokyo-based chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, while explaining the weakness in markets and flagging business confidence.

"When the potential growth rate is weak and domestic economy is weak, it would be the timing to launch a big economic stimulus package," he said. "Instead, the government is going to raise consumption taxes. How can stocks rise in this environment?"

A government proposal to raise the nationwide sales tax to 10 per cent from 8 per cent in October has also raised concerns it will dent consumer spending.

Foreign investors have so far this year sold $14 billion worth of shares in Japan, the world's third-largest economy. More than half of this was sold in the last six weeks, with non-resident investors selling $7.6 billion of Japanese shares for six consecutive weeks starting from May 7.

The backdrop for that was the breakdown in trade negotiations after US officials accused China of backing away from previously agreed commitments. The more than year-long dispute has seen the two sides slap tit-for-tat tariffs on each other's imports that have damaged global growth prospects.

The fallout has prompted massive fiscal and monetary policy easing in China while other major central banks, including the Federal Reserve, have signalled they may cut interest rates soon.

China and the United States said last week they were reviving talks ahead of a meeting at the Group of 20 summit this weekend between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

China's stock market is up 26 per cent this year as investors bet on companies that sell to its growing middle class. In contrast, Japan's Nikkei share average is up only 6 per cent while the Dow Jones index is up 15 per cent.